Maulvi Nazir Wazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, an importantcommander from the Wazir tribe, was killed on Wednesday nightwhen missiles struck a house in Angoor Adda, near the capital ofWana, South Waziristan, near the Afghan border, sevenintelligence sources and two residents from his tribe said.

His deputy, Ratta Khan, was also killed, three sources said.

He favoured attacking American forces in Afghanistan ratherthan Pakistani soldiers in Pakistan, a position that put him atodds with some other Pakistan Taliban commanders.

Nazir was wounded in a bombing in November, widely believedto be as a result of his rivalries with other Talibancommanders.

Shortly after the bombing, his Wazir tribe told the Mehsudtribe, related to Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, to leave thearea.

The Pakistani army has clawed back territory from theTaliban since launching a military offensive in 2009.Intensified drone strikes have also killed many senior Talibanleaders, including Mehsud's predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud, in2009.

Drone strikes have dramatically increased since U.S.President Barack Obama took office. There were only five dronestrikes in 2007, peaking at 117 in 2010, then down to 46 lastyear.

Most of the strikes hit militants although civilians havealso been killed. Rights groups say that some residents are soafraid of the strikes they don't want to leave their homes.

Data collected from news reports by the Bureau ofInvestigative Journalism say that between 2,600-3,404 Pakistanishave been killed by drones, of which 473-889 were reported to becivilians.

It is difficult to verify civilian casualties becauseTaliban fighters often seal off the sites of drone strikesimmediately.

Some Pakistanis say the drone strikes are an infringement oftheir national sovereignty and have called for them to stop.

Others, including some residents of the tribal areas alongthe Afghan border, say they are killing Taliban commanders whohave terrorized the local population.